Always Look on the Bright Side of Life
by 93 Diagon Alley
Summary: What would have happened if Hermione got left behind by Harry and Ron during the horcrux hunt, and ended up hiding out with the twins in the flat above 93 Diagon Alley? Based on my one-shot of a similar title. Will eventually deal with character death.
1. Chapter 1

_This is a chaptered story based off of my one-shot, **Always Look on the Bright Side of Death. **It comes as a request from **natieg6**, so this first chapter is dedicated to her. Thanks, Natalie!_

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><p><strong>Always Look on the Bright Side of Life<strong>  
>by: 93 Diagon Alley<p>

Hermione had just set down her empty champagne glass on the nearest table when she felt a tug on her arm, and she was pulled out onto the dance floor. "Dance with me, Granger," Fred requested, placing his free hand on her hip.

She smiled at him, shaking her head, as she placed her own free hand on his shoulder. "Alright, Fred, you lead."

He gave her an impish grin. "You'll regret saying that..." he said in a low voice, before spinning her out and then pulling her back in to his chest. They waltzed for awhile, with Fred sending Hermione on a little twirl every now and then, until a slow song started playing. He drew her close, but was prevented from doing much else due to a tap on his shoulder.

"Mind if I cut in?" a voice completely identical to his own requested. Fred turned his head to see his brother and nodded.

"Not at all, George. Thanks for the dance, Granger."

She smiled at him as he let go of her hands, and George swooped in to take his place smoothly, placing both hands on her waist. She brought her hands up to rest around his neck, looking into his bright, blue eyes for a moment and smiling before laying her head down against his chest. "Are you enjoying yourself, Granger?"

"Mhmm," she mumbled. "I'm glad you asked me to dance, I was hoping you would."

"Oh you were, were you? And why would the great Hermione Granger want to dance with a lowly peasant like me?" he replied with a small grin on his face.

She pulled her head back and looked at his face as she responded. "I was hoping to get a dance with each of the Weasley boys, plus Cousin Barney, and you and Ron were the only ones I hadn't danced with until now."

"You haven't even danced with Ronniekins yet? Aren't you supposed to be his girlfriend by now?"

"Hmph. I am most certainly _not_ his girlfriend. Especially not after having to watch him and Lavender eat each others faces all year; I'm surprised he didn't invite her."

"Sorry I mentioned it, then, Granger. Speak of the devil, it looks like Ronnie's headed over this way. Should we dance away from him, or should I let him cut in?"

"That's up to you, George," she replied. "Surprise me."

He grinned wickedly and whipped her away from him in a spin, twirling her back into his body. She laughed as he settled her back into his arms, moving them a bit faster than the music. Ron approached them and placed a hand on George's shoulder, asking to cut in. But just as he took her hand, a bright silver Patronus in the shape of a lynx bounded into the tent.

"The Ministry has fallen. Scrimgeour is dead. They are coming." Kingsley Shacklebolt's deep, booming voice rang out across the now-silent dance floor as his Patronus faded away.

Mass chaos broke out. All of a sudden, a herd of people appeared between Hermione and Ron, forcing them away from each other. They tried to hold on to each others hands, but were eventually tugged apart by the shifting masses. Hermione's beaded bag – the contents of which included everything the trio would need for the horcrux hunt and then some – slipped off her wrist in the process and ended up in Ron's possession. She saw him grab onto Harry and they looked at her with desperate eyes, pleading for her to make a decision. She closed her eyes, inhaled deeply through her nose, and then stared them straight in the eyes with a look of resignation. They nodded, and disapparated.

As soon as they were gone, she was swept away and bumped back into George. "Hermione! We've got to get you out of here!" Without warning, he grabbed her wrist and twisted into the air, apparating them to the apartment above Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes.

"George! What did you do that for?" she exclaimed, incensed.

"It wasn't safe for you, Hermione. They were looking for Harry; they would have taken you had they seen you, I had to get you to safety." He pulled her lightly by the wrist into his bedroom, and led her over to his closet, opening the door. Letting go of her hand, he knelt on the floor and reached into the back of the closet, shifting things out of the way as he whispered 'alohomora' at the back wall. A lock clicked open, and he pulled a piece of wall aside. "There's a safe room in there. You'll have to crawl to get in, but there's plenty of room inside. Go, get yourself hidden, I have to get back to the Burrow. Don't make any noise, and don't leave the closet until either Fred or I come back to get you. And make sure we tell you something only we would know first! Got it?"

She nodded, and pulled him into a hug. "Thank you, George. Be safe." He pulled away and watched as she got down onto the floor and crawled into the safe room, and threw in one of his jumpers and a blanket for her before closing and locking the door, concealing it from anyone who didn't know it was there. Then he twisted into the air, heading back to the Burrow.

-oOo-

"Hermione! It's Fred, I'm coming in to get you. I once slipped you a tester love potion and you followed George around all day like a lovesick puppy, thinking he was me." He heard a quiet laugh from behind the closet wall and non-verbally unlocked the door to the safe room. Hermione came crawling out, clad in her dress from the wedding and one of George's old Weasley jumpers, which was far too large for her. It was a funny sight to see, and he chuckled before he could catch himself.

"What's so funny, Fred Weasley?" Hermione huffed.

"I'm sorry, Granger, but just...go into the bathroom and look at yourself in the mirror. You look so tiny in that jumper!" he replied, still laughing slightly. He led her to the bathroom and pointed at the mirror, smiling. She couldn't help but allow a small grin to lift on her face, and her cheeks flushed as she turned around and buried her face in Fred's chest, embarrassed.

"Oh Fred, I look ridiculous! I can barely even see the bottom of my dress from under this jumper!" she groaned, stepping back, splaying her arms out and looking down to indicate that he should look at her.

"It's a good look for you, Granger. If it wasn't unsafe for you, I'd suggest popping back over to the Burrow to model your new outfit for the rest of the family."

She blanched. "The family! Did everyone make it out alright?"

He nodded, a more serious look washing over his face. "Yeah, everyone's alright. The only people unaccounted for are Ron and Harry; they seemed to have disappeared somewhere, but we have a feeling it was of their own accord." Hermione flushed a deep red and looked away at that, trying not to meet Fred's eyes. "...Hermione? Do you know something about where they went?"

She gave an almost imperceptible nod and raised her eyes to meet his slowly. "I know that they left, I'm just not sure where they decided to go. But they should be safe."

"How do you know this?"

She hesitated before responding. "Because I was supposed to be with them..."

His eyes widened at her confession, but he didn't get to ask her what they were up to because George chose that moment to apparate into the apartment. "Fred? You here?"

"In the bathroom," he called. Turning to Hermione, he motioned for her to exit the room and led her over to the living room to meet George.

"Hermione, good, you're safe. I just got back from calming down Mum, and we decided while we were there that you're going to hide out here with us instead of at the Burrow, because they're less likely to search here."

"Wait, I'm going to have to stay here with you guys? But I have to get to Ron and Harry, they need my help!" she responded, panicking slightly.

"Hermione," Fred spoke softly, placing his hand on her shoulder. "Calm down. You're Harry's best friend, and Harry is a wanted man. They're going to come after you, and the first place they'll look is the Burrow. If they think to check here at all, it won't be for awhile, and we'll have you hidden anyway."

"Yeah, it's not safe for you to go out looking for Harry and Ron. If they contact us with their whereabouts, then we'll help you get to them. Otherwise, you're stuck with us until then," George added.

Hermione sighed softly and nodded her consent. "Alright. But where will I stay? There's only two bedrooms, right?"

Fred and George looked at each other and had a silent conversation with their eyes. Fred nodded, and George turned back to Hermione to respond. "You'll be staying in my room, in the safe room. I'll expand the entrance so you won't have to crawl in every time, and we'll transfigure you a mattress and some furniture. Fred's gonna go back to the Burrow to get some of Ginny's clothes for you sometime tomorrow. This way, if there's a raid, the entrance to your safe room is well-hidden. That will give us an extra few seconds to get you in there and close it up without being seen if they barge in."

"You seem to have this well thought out; did you plan this ahead of time?" she asked, looking slightly suspicious.

"Well, yes, but not specifically for you. Most members of the Order have some sort of safe room and a contingency plan just in case someone needs hiding," Fred replied.

Hermione looked pleasantly surprised. "That's really smart!"

The twins beamed at her, pleased that she approved of the preparations the Order had made. She let out a large yawn, and George turned to her. "Looks like it's time for us to turn in, then, it's been a long day. You take my bed tonight, Granger, and I'll sleep on the couch. I'm too tired to transfigure any furniture for you tonight."

"Alright," she replied, "are you sure? I can sleep on the couch, you know."

"Naw, it'll be safer if you sleep closer to the safe room. If they come knocking tonight, I can make it look like I just passed out on the couch. C'mon, let's go to my room, you can borrow some pyjamas if you'd like; can't imagine you'd want to sleep in that dress."

"Thanks, George," she said with a soft smile, and followed him to his room. "Goodnight, Fred."

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><p>Posted: 21 November 2011<br>Word Count: 1,862


	2. Chapter 2

_JAMES PHELPS TWEETED ME BACK ON THANKSGIVING! It made my day. The message wasn't even anything of much significance, but seeing an email in my inbox saying "James Phelps replied to one of your tweets!" was a nice little surprise. Win win win._

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><p>Hermione awoke with a shriek the next morning when something flopped onto the bed beside her. She opened her eyes to find George laying entirely too close to her on his stomach, his chin in his hands, and his face inches from hers. "George Weasley! Was that really necessary?"<p>

He grinned at her before slipping an angelic expression onto his face and replying. "Of course it was, Granger. I need to shower, and I wanted to make sure you were awake so you could avoid accidentally seeing me in my towel. Unless you'd like to ogle me, of course, in which case I retract my previous statement - ogle away!"

Hermione laughed and lightly slapped George's arm. "You're the limit, George Weasley."

He gave her a bright smile. "In retrospect, I suppose I didn't have to wake you - I could just bring my clean clothes into the bathroom with me and get dressed in there. I enjoyed waking you up like that too much, though, to really care either way." Getting up off the bed before she could react to his cheek, he went about collecting his clothes and made his way into the shared bathroom connecting his and Fred's rooms. A minute or so later, Hermione could hear him belting out a terribly off-key rendition of a song by the Weird Sisters, and she chuckled to herself. _'That boy...'_

Fred chose that moment to stroll into George's room, clad in just a towel. "Morning, Granger!"

She turned to look at him in the doorway and shrieked again, hiding her face under the sheets. "FRED! PUT SOME CLOTHES ON!"

He grinned impishly and sauntered over to her, sitting down on the edge of the bed and leaning over her huddled form from above the blanket. "That's totally unnecessary, Miss Granger. I know you want to see my hot bod, no need denying it. I'm just that irresistible."

"If there's anything irresistible around here, it's my desire to smack that silly grin off your face. Now please, go get dressed so I can escape this bed! I'll make you breakfast if you do..."

"Pancakes?" Fred asked.

Hermione nodded the best she could from under the covers. "Sure, pancakes."

"PANCAKES!" Fred shouted, jumping off the bed and bolting from the room. Hermione chuckled and got up from the bed, making it neatly before padding into the flat's kitchen for the first time. She took a look through the cabinets before determining that yes, she did have the necessary ingredients for pancakes, and set about mixing the batter. Fred walked back into the kitchen - fully dressed this time - and peeked over her shoulder. He squealed, gave Hermione a big, sloppy, wet kiss on the cheek, and then ran into George's room.

"GEORGE! GET OUT HERE! HERMIONE'S MAKING PANCAKES!"

"PANCAKES!" she heard him shout in reply, and within seconds, both boys were sitting at the table with eager expressions on their faces. "I knew having you stay here was a good idea, Hermione. Pancakes on your first day here? I can't imagine it getting much better than this."

She turned her back to the boys and smiled secretly, under the pretense of adding another ingredient. She could get used to living with them if they were this lively and appreciative all the time.

-oOo-

'Merlin, those were delicious pancakes, Hermione!" Fred exclaimed, standing up and stretching towards the ceiling. "As thanks for making me such a fantastic breakfast, I'm going to pop on over to the Burrow and get you some necessities. Anything in particular you'd like?"

She gave him a grateful smile. "If you could bring my trunk, that would be fantastic. There's a few things in there that would be useful to have, and I can easily hide it in my safe room. Other than that and clothes, I suppose just a toothbrush will do. I can transfigure pretty much anything else, I think. Thank you."

"No problem, Granger. I'll be back in a little while...hopefully, just long enough for George to do the dishes without me." And with a cheeky wink at his two flatmates, he disappeared with a loud crack to the Burrow.

"Ugh. I hate doing the dishes! I guess that's what I get for volunteering Fred to get your stuff last night," George proclaimed.

"I'll help you, I don't mind. That way, we can start on transfiguring some furniture for my safe room sooner rather than later," Hermione replied. George just nodded, and they set about cleaning up from breakfast.

Fifteen minutes or so later, just as they were heading into George's room to find things to transfigure, Fred returned with Hermione's trunk. He met them in George's room, stashing the trunk in the safe room and scouring George's desk with them. They came up with a few spare bits of parchment and some old, broken quills, and George set to expanding the entrance to the safe room. Once the door was sufficiently tall enough for both Hermione and the twins to enter it easily, he cast the counter-spell for Homenum Revelio around the closet and stepped into Hermione's new room, with the others close behind.

Hermione sat down on her trunk as George transfigured one of the pieces of quill into a bed frame, while Fred was busy changing a piece of parchment into a mattress. "It's not anything too fancy," George said, indicating to the newly-put-together bed, "but I'm sure it'll do." Hermione nodded, and they each set to transfiguring one more piece of furniture. Fred made a mirror, Hermione made an end table, and George made a dresser. Once they had arranged the furniture to Hermione's liking, Fred pulled out two more pieces of parchment.

"Thought you might like to have this," he said, and changed one piece into a desk, quickly following it up with a chair as well.

Hermione grinned broadly, and hugged him. "Thanks, Fred, that was very thoughtful of you. And thank you as well, George," she continued, moving over to hug him. "Not just for helping me set up my room, but for allowing me to invade the privacy of your bedroom with my little nook."

The boys both nodded their welcome, and the three headed back into the kitchen to make some lunch.

-oOo-

A week later, and Hermione was practically clawing her eyes out from boredom. "Freeeeed," she whined from her position lounging on his bed, putting her book down, "I'm SO BORED!"

"Run out of books to read, Granger?" George asked as he ambled into the room. She scowled at him, and he just laughed in response.

"Help us invent," Fred said quickly.

"Do what?"

"Help us with development! You're brilliant, I'm sure you could help us solve numerous issues and come up with a few ideas on your own," he replied.

Hermione seemed to think on this for a moment, and then got a wicked gleam in her eyes. "Okay, under one condition - we send Ginny the best finished product I've helped with, by Halloween, for her to prank Filch."

George dropped his sandwich, and Fred's face broke out in a surprised 'o'. "Who are you and what have you done with Hermione Granger?" he asked.

She just giggled in response, and stuck out her hand. "Deal?"

Both boys' faces immediately lit up, and they shook her hand one after the other with a declaration of "deal!" together.

"So what's first?"

George scrambled into the development lab to grab some blueprints as Fred started listing off the things they were working on. "Crawling Chocolates," George announced as he ran back into the room. "That's what you should help us with first."

Fred nodded. "They're intended to make you crawl on the ceiling, and we want them to last for about 15 minutes. We've got the taste down, and the crawling, but we can't seem to put a time limit on them."

Hermione took the blueprint from George's outstretched hand and looked it over quickly. "Hrmm. I think I can figure this out. I'll be in my room if you need me." She smiled at the boys and walked away, frowning at the blueprint as she made her way to the desk in her safe room.

"Forge, you're brilliant. I can't wait to see what she does with this one, we could come up with so many awesome products with her brain included into the mix!"

"I agree, Gred. The possibilities are endless now, I look forward to seeing -"

"BOYS!" Hermione shouted, interrupting Fred's sentence. "Come see what I've done!"

The twins looked at each other in surprise and confusion, and then practically ran into George's room to see what she was yelling about. "What is it, Granger?" Fred asked.

"I do believe I've figured it out. You just made one miscalculation, if I'm not mistaken. Care to accompany me to the lab to test it out?"

The boys eagerly turned around and bolted towards the lab, Hermione laughing as she walked behind them. They reached the lab, and the twins started pulling out the necessary ingredients for her to work with. "There, that should do it," she announced, finishing her wandwork. "Who's testing it?"

"Fred's turn," George stated. "I did the dishes."

Fred groaned, but stuck his hand out for Hermione to place the candy in. Popping it into his mouth, he stood still and savoured the taste for a moment until he suddenly flew up to the ceiling, flipping over in the process. "Start the timer, George!" he shouted down, and started walking along the ceiling. Exactly fifteen minutes later, he fell back down to the floor. "You did it!"

"I could kiss you, Granger," George declared. "You'll never be bored in this flat again, as long as we have ideas for you to help us with."

Hermione just smiled, her stomach flopping strangely at George's declaration.

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><p>Posted: November 2011<br>Word Count: 1,646


	3. Chapter 3

__This chapter is dedicated to **wolvesdrinktea**. Congratulations on getting married! I wish you and your new husband all the best :)  
><em>_And to everyone else - get excited! By the time I post the next chapter, I will have gone on my first date in over 5 years! I'm pretty stoked :D__

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><p>Fred walked quietly into George's room and gently woke his brother, motioning for him to be quiet and follow him. He silently unlocked the door to Hermione's safe room and they snuck in, each climbing onto the bed on either side of her. She was laying on her stomach, head turned to the side, so they both placed a hand on the small of her back and then leaned in to wake her simultaneously. "Good moooooorning, Granger!" they shouted, startling her awake.<p>

"Yahhh!" she shouted. Upon opening her eyes and seeing Fred's face inches from her own, she jerked backwards to put some space between them and ended up launching herself into George, who subsequently fell off the bed. "Fred! George! Was that really necessary?"

"I think it was, Granger," Fred replied with a cheeky grin.

"Happy birthday," George grumbled from the floor. "Care to help me up?"

She turned around and leaned over the side of the bed, spotting George lying on the cold, hard floor. Reaching a hand down to him, she helped pull him up, and he immediately pounced on top of her.

"I regret help- GEORGE! GEORGE WEASLEY!" she shouted, laughing as he began tickling her. "You stop that right now! I'll wet the bed if you don't cut it out; you wouldn't want that, would you?"

He quickly rolled off of her with an exclamation of "ewwww," and looked over at his twin. "Freddy, did you know Granger was this gross?"

"It's what makes her so endearing, brother. Besides, it's her birthday. You can't call her names today!"

George grumbled in agreement. "Speaking of birthdays, you should come out to the living room. There may or may not be a surprise out there for you."

"A surprise?" Hermione asked, eagerly sitting up in bed. "I'm not a fan of surprises, but I'll make an exception this one time. Is it a birthday present?"

Fred nodded, and pushed her gently to help her get up from the bed. "C'mon, get up, you need to check out your surprise before you can eat the breakfast I made you; you don't want it to get cold, do you?"

She climbed out of the bed and followed the twins into the living room, where she discovered a new addition to the room – a television. "Boys! A telly? This is brilliant, thank you!" She hugged them both and then got closer to the TV to see what features it had. "Ooh, a built-in VCR...I'll have to figure out how to acquire some Monty Python, you guys would _love_ that."

"What's a Monty Python?" Fred asked, a confused expression on his face.

"Is it some sort of show about snakes or something?" George added.

Hermione giggled. "No, it has nothing to do with snakes. It's a comedy troupe that I think you two will find caters directly to your comedic interests. I can't wait to see how you react to the horse and coconuts routine!"

"Horse and coconuts, you say? I think this sounds like something I can watch," George stated.

Hermione grinned, and turned back to Fred. "So what's this I hear about breakfast?"

-oOo-

Over the next few weeks, the trio settled into a routine. Hermione would make breakfast, then she'd spend the day reading and doing some work on development while the twins ran the shop. They'd break for lunch, usually made by Hermione again, and then one of the boys would make dinner after the shop closed at the end of the day. Hermione would help whichever twin didn't make dinner that night clean up from the meal, and then all three would sit down at the table and go over Hermione's progress on the inventions for the day. Once she'd reported everything she'd done, they'd give her some feedback, and then Hermione would curl up on the couch between the twins as they all watched some television for a little while before bed.

On one particular Tuesday, Hermione was sitting at the kitchen table doing the Quibbler's crossword puzzle while Fred cooked dinner.

"I went out into muggle London today, and happened to find something I thought you might like," George announced, strolling into the kitchen. Fred looked up from the pan he was making their stir-fry in and locked eyes with his brother.

After a quick, silent communication, he grinned. "Brilliant!"

"What's brilliant?" Hermione asked. "What did you find?"

George handed her a nondescript, rectangular brown package, which she eagerly tore open. "The Life of Brian!" she shouted, jumping out of her seat and hugging George. "How did you know where to find this? And The Holy Grail, too? George, this _is_ brilliant!"

He grinned widely and hugged her back. "I noticed a video store as I walked past it, by chance, so I figured I'd go in and see if they had any Monty Python for you. I asked the salesman, and he brought me a few. Those were the ones that looked the most entertaining, based on the pictures on the cover."

"Thank you!" she exclaimed, pulling back from the hug and going to show Fred her new movies.

"Ooh, those _do_ look fun," he replied, turning back to the stove to continue making dinner.

"We're watching one of these after dinner, you two don't have a choice. Tweaking the Decoy Detonators can wait a day, they're not going anywhere," Hermione declared, shuffling around to set the table. George took the videos and placed them on the table next to the television, before going to hang his coat and scarf on the rack by the door.

"Sounds good to me, I think we deserve a break after all the hard work we've been doing. We've invented more products in the past month with you than we made in our entire 6th year at Hogwarts, I think," George replied. "Can I pick? I'd really like to see the Holy Grail."

Hermione nodded as she laid out the forks. "That one's my favourite, I can't say no to it!"

"Dinner's ready!" Fred announced, and carried the pan over to the table to dish out the meal onto each of their plates.

Once they had all been served, and were sitting down together, Hermione took a bite and groaned. "Fred, this is amazing! I vote that you cook every night."

"Oi!" George shouted indignantly. "What's wrong with _my_ cooking, woman?"

Hermione giggled. "Nothing, George. Shepherd's pie is _exactly_ what I want to eat three to four times a week." George huffed, and Hermione winked at him, reaching over to pat his hand. "You know I'm kidding, Georgie. Your cooking is just fine. I just happen to find tonight's dinner particularly delicious."

"Sure, sure," he replied, grumbling. "I see who the favourite twin is."

Hermione scooted her chair over to George's side of the table and kissed him on the cheek while giving him a side-hug. "Quit whining, George, I love you both equally. Besides, Fred's not the one who brought me Monty Python tonight..."

He beamed at her, and then stuck his tongue out at Fred, blowing him a raspberry. Fred flung a potato at him in response.

Hermione just sighed and rested her chin in her hand. "What am I going to do with the two of you?"

* * *

><p>Posted: November 2011<br>Word Count: 1,259


	4. Chapter 4

__My date went pretty well, thanks for the encouragement, guys. I think I'm going to see him again :)  
>I seem to be celebrating something every chapter... as of last Friday, I am officially done with my Associate's Degree! Finally! :) :)<em>_

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><p>"Ba bada badabada, ba ba bada badabada!" Fred and George were both singing as they skipped through the store; Fred pretending to handle reins, while George followed, clapping his hands like a pair of coconuts to mimic the sound of a galloping horse. Just at that moment, Lee chose to come into the shop to visit them.<p>

"Oi! What in the name of Godric Gryffindor are you two doing?" he called from the entrance to the store.

They stopped their trotting and turned toward their friend, grinning like fools. "The horse and coconuts routine from Monty Python!" Fred called over to him.

"It's this awesome comedy troupe that has nothing to do with snakes!" George added.

Lee just shook his head and smiled. "Sometimes, I wonder about the two of you..."

"Oh, Lee. Lee, Lee, Lee. You'll have to stay for dinner tonight, we'll show you what we're talking about," Fred replied.

"It'll be brilliant!" George continued. "And delicious, since it's Fred's night to cook!"

"Alright," Lee conceded, "it's close enough to closing time that I can just stay through dinner. Did you want me to help out in the store, or go try to work on some development?"

Fred and George exchanged a silent conversation with their eyes, and grinned impishly. "Go on into the lab for development. We actually have a surprise back there we've been waiting to show you; you'll know it when you see it."

Lee nodded, and headed towards the lab. As he opened the door, he heard the shattering of glass and hurried up his pace. "What happened? Who's in here?"

"Lee?" a disembodied voice called from beneath the work table. "Is that you?"

He knew he recognized that voice, but from where...? A few seconds later, Hermione's head appeared from behind the table, answering his question. "Hermione! What are you doing here?"

"Ssh, keep your voice down!" she hurriedly responded. "No one can know I'm back here, I'm in hiding!"

"Oops, sorry, Granger," he replied, making his way through the room and over to help her clean up the broken glass. "So if you're in hiding, what are you doing working at WWW?"

I'm hiding out with the twins, that's why. And I needed something other than reading to do all day, so I agreed to help them with development. They've warded the back so that no one can get back here unless they have good intentions, so it's pretty safe for me to leave the flat if I'm just coming down to the lab."

"Fair enough," he said. "Well, what are you working on? I'll see what I can do to help."

He pulled up a chair to the work table, and leaned over to take a look at her notes. They put their heads together and started discussing the latest idea, Language Licorice, and stayed there until the twins came in to drag them upstairs for dinner, when Lee remembered that he had to tell Hermione about what he encountered when he entered the shop. A wide grin broke out across her face, and she laughed as they all made their way upstairs to start dinner.

-oOo-

"What if something's happened to them?" Hermione asked, fretting as she paced back and forth in the sitting room of the flat.

"Hermione, I'm sure they're fine," Fred replied, watching her from the couch where he was sitting forward, his elbows resting on his thighs and his fists under his chin.

"How can you know that for sure? No one's heard from them!" She was stating to get frantic, but was saved from pulling her hair out by George's arrival.

"I've just spoken to Remus," he said, resting his umbrella by the door and pulling off his rain boots. "He's seen Ron and Harry, but swore not to tell anyone where they were. And before you ask, Hermione, they're fine. They said to tell you they figured out who R.A.B. was, and know where his you-know-what is; they're working out how to get their hands on it."

Hermione let out a huge sigh of relief and flopped down onto the couch next to Fred, who instinctively started rubbing her back in a show of support and understanding. "Thank you, George," she breathed out heavily, "that made things so much easier. Did Remus say why or how he saw them?"

He shook his head in reply. "No, I think he was too embarrassed by something that happened to admit anything about his reasoning," he responded thoughtfully.

"Alright," she replied, visibly calmer and less tense than she had been a few minutes prior. "I'll take what information I can get. That message from the boys is really good, I wonder who it turned out to be..." she trailed off, a distant look appearing in her eyes.

It got a bit uncomfortable in the room as the twins realized Hermione was keeping a rather big secret from them. "I'm gonna go make dinner, it's my turn tonight. How does meatloaf sound?" George announced and stood up, attempting to diffuse the tension.

The most he got out of Hermione was a noncommittal hum, but Fred got up and mumbled something about setting the table.

-oOo-

"Hey Hermione," Fred called, making his way into the flat during his lunch break one day.

"In here," she called back, from the direction of his bedroom.

He walked into his room to find her lounging on his bed, reading a book. "What's with you always being in my bed? With how often you're found in it, one might think we're shagging...I'm not too sure Angelina would like that."

"Well, I'd rather not hole up in my safe room all day, so my bed's out, and I just feel more at ease taking over your bed than George's, for some reason."

"I wonder why that might be..." Fred responded with an impish grin.

"Enough of that," Hermione shot back. "I've told you time and time again, I don't have feelings for George."

"I'll get you to admit it one of these days, Granger..."

"No, you won't, because there's nothing to admit," she said. "Now what did you need me for? Obviously, there's a reason, since you came up to find me in the middle of the day."

"Well, besides it being lunch, and offering for you to join us for takeaway from the Leaky, I was hoping I might be able to convince you to help me develop my latest product idea; I'd like to create some sort of colour-changing flowers to give Angie for Christmas."

"Colour-changing, you say? I think we can do that. Let's go talk about it over lunch, shall we?"

Hermione and Fred went downstairs to the lab to wait for George to return with their lunch. They had their heads bent over a sheet of paper together, brainstorming ideas for how to enchant the flowers, when they heard the door open. "Hey, George," they greeted together, not bothering to look up.

"Not George. Whatcha working on, Freddy?"

Both of their heads shot up and they turned around to see the newcomer. "Angie!" Fred cried, and elbowed Hermione in the side. Understanding his actions, she quickly shuffled the papers together and put them away in the worktable. "Nothing, just a new product idea."

"Then why'd you have Hermione put it away so quickly?" she asked suspiciously.

Fred got a panicked expression on his face. "Erm, well, we want it to be a surprise. It's one of our better ideas, if I do say so myself."

Hermione patted him on the shoulder as she stood up, and gave him a look that said 'good save,' before she walked out of the room to give the couple some privacy. Stepping through the door to the back of the shop, she nearly ran into George.

"Hermione!" he exclaimed. "What are you doing out here? I thought you'd be in the lab for lunch."

"I'm just giving Fred and Angelina a few minutes of privacy, she just showed up," she replied, putting out a hand to stop him from going into the lab.

"Oh, alright. Guess we'll have lunch in the kitchen, then; Fred can join us when he's ready." Hermione nodded, and followed George up the stairs. "So what were the two of you working on, then?"

"Fred wants to create some sort of colour-changing flowers, to give to Angelina for Christmas, and then eventually sell in the shop. I was helping him brainstorm ideas for it."

"Colour-changing flowers, eh? That should be pretty simple, I would think. A strong stasis charm ought to preserve the flower well enough, it's just the multiple colours that would be the tricky part."

"Of course! A stasis charm! Why didn't I think of that?" Hermione exclaimed, slapping her hand up to her forehead. "Good thinking, George, I'll add that to our notes after lunch."

"Hey, it's what I'm here for. You don't think our success is based solely on my dashing good looks, do you?" George asked with a wink.

Hermione just laughed. "Of course not, George. I just assumed Fred ended up with all the cleverness, since you seem to think you got all the looks."

"Oi!" George replied, then gave a light chuckle. "Well-played, Granger, you're learning quickly."

* * *

><p>Posted: December 2011<br>Word Count: 1,608


	5. Chapter 5

__I hope everyone had a nice holiday season, and that 2012 has started off well for you.  
><em>_

* * *

><p>"Boys," Hermione started as she walked into the lab, "do you realize what time it is?"<p>

"Hmm?" Fred asked, not looking up.

"It's 8pm. Come on upstairs, I've made you two some dinner."

"Eight? Really?" George asked, his head raising up to look at the clock on the wall. "Wow, didn't realize it had gotten so late. We can finish this tomorrow, Freddy."

Fred just nodded, and shuffled the papers they were working on into a pile. He put them away in the drawer of the work table, and the two boys followed Hermione up the stairs.

Dinner was a quiet, slightly awkward affair. Both of the twins kept trying to start a conversation with Hermione, only to get one-word answers. Eventually, Fred put down his fork with a clang, and turned to his flatmate. "Hermione, is there something wrong?"

She shook her head, and went back to picking at her food.

"Do you maybe have something you'd like to talk to us about? You know we're all-ears, and we won't judge you," George suggested.

She let out an audible sigh, and finally looked up from her plate. "I suppose it might be time to tell you two about the mission...let's just clean up from dinner first, and then we'll go talk about it in the sitting room."

A few minutes later, Hermione sat poised on the edge of her seat on the couch next to George, with Fred facing them from the nearby love seat. "Hermione?" Fred asked. "What is this mission you need to tell us about? Does it have something to do with where Ron and Harry are?"

Hermione just nodded, not looking away from the spot on the wall she seemed to be staring at. After a few more minutes of silence, George spoke.

"Alright, Mione, let's make this a little less stressful, yeah?" he said as he leaned forward and took hold of her shoulders. He pulled her back into the middle of the couch as he scooted himself back as well, and settled her into his side, wrapping his arm around her shoulder in a comforting manner. "Come on, love, you can talk to us," he said quietly, leaning his head closer to hers and gently turning her face to look at him.

At this gentle, caring gesture, she relaxed into his arms and closed her eyes with a sigh. A moment later, with her eyes still closed, she began to speak. "Last year, Harry started taking special lessons with Dumbledore..." She launched into an explanation of everything Harry learned from their late headmaster, and the planning they did for their horcrux hunt. She went into detail about the diary, the ring, and then the locket, and then finally cleared up the bit about RAB for them – not that she knew who he actually was.

The twins sat silently as she spoke, taking it all in. George was softly rubbing up and down Hermione's arm in a comforting way to show her that they were listening, and help her to feel more confident about opening up to them. When she finally finished relaying all the information, Fred let out a big sigh. "Blimey," he said, leaning back into the couch from the upright, rigid position he had been in while listening. "I can't believe Dumbledore expected you three to take all that on! That's some heavy stuff. How much of this does the Order know about?"

"Nothing," she replied. "He meant for us to keep it a secret to prevent information from falling into the wrong hands. Technically, I'm not even supposed to be telling you two..."

"Well, you know we won't tell anyone, love," George said, brushing a lock of hair behind her ear. "Do you feel better having told someone, though?"

Hermione nodded. "Yeah, actually, I do," she replied. "Thanks, guys."

"Well, I don't mean to just leave you like this, but I'm supposed to be going over to Angie's to have coffee with her parents tonight...are you going to be alright if I leave, Hermione?"

"Yeah, I think I'll be okay," she replied, looking over at him with a half-smile. "Thanks, go see your girlfriend. And please tell her I said hi."

"Will do," he said, clapping his hands onto his knees and using the position to push himself up and off the couch. "Georgie, keep an eye on her for me, will ya?"

"You didn't even have to ask, brother," he replied, looking up at Fred with a smile. "She's in good hands," he added, patting her lightly on the shoulder.

"Alright, I'll see you two later. Have a good night."

"Goodbye, Fred," Hermione and George chimed together, and watched as Fred tossed some floo powder into the fireplace and disappeared.

-oOo-

A few hours later, George woke up with a start when he heard yelling coming from the direction of his closet. Grabbing his wand up off the bedside table, he climbed out of bed and quickly made his way to the entrance of Hermione's safe room. Opening the door, he spotted the girl thrashing around in her bed with a pained expression on her face. "No, not them. Leave them alone! RON! HARRY! NO!"

"Hermione!" he hissed, moving over to her bed and gently shaking her. She didn't react to his actions at all, so he decided to try a different tactic. He crawled on top of her and pinned her to the bed with his legs and hands, to still her thrashing, and leaned his head down to whisper in her ear. "Hermione, calm down. Breathe, love, it's just a dream. I'm right here, you're safe, please wake up," he started chanting. "Come on, Hermione, open your eyes for me."

Finally, her head stopped jerking back and forth, and she slowly opened her eyes. "George?" she whispered. "Why are you on top of me?"

George sighed in relief, then chuckled as he removed himself from atop her body. "I had to pin you down to stop you from thrashing around so much. You must have been having one hell of a nightmare; are you alright?"

Hermione nodded slightly. "I think I am." At this, George started to remove himself from the bed to go back to his own, but was stopped by Hermione's hand grabbing his wrist. "George...stay...please," she whispered, her voice pleading. "I don't want to be alone after a dream like that."

George seemed to wage a short internal battle, but nodded and climbed back onto the bed beside her. Pulling back the sheets, he slipped in under the covers alongside Hermione, and pulled the bed covers up to his chest. Trying to hide the nervousness in his eyes, he looked at the girl lying next to him and asked, "feel better now?"

Hermione looked back at him and shook her head. Then, in a move that surprised him, she scooted herself up against him and wrapped an arm across his torso. "Now I do," she replied, humming contentedly as she snuggled her face into his side.

Pleasantly surprised, George smiled to himself and drew an arm up around her back. He leaned down and kissed her on the forehead before whispering, "Goodnight, Hermione. Sweet dreams."

"Mmm," she responded quietly, "sweet dreams, George."

-oOo-

Fred came home to a quiet apartment the next morning, and went to go wake his brother for work. When he got into his room, however, he discovered an empty bed. Curious, he looked to Hermione's secret door, intending to go in and wake her to see if she knew where George was, but found the door already open. He quietly made his way into the safe room, where he found not only Hermione, but his twin in the bed as well. The girl was wrapped around his brother's side, and both were sleeping so peacefully that he couldn't bring himself to actually wake them. Smiling to himself, he walked out of the room and set about to making some breakfast.

A few minutes later, Hermione stirred and went to stretch, forgetting that she wasn't alone in the bed – which resulted in her accidentally hitting George in the face. "Ouch! What the bloody hell was that for, Granger?" he cried, sitting up and putting his hand up to his head.

"George! I'm so sorry! Wait...what are you doing in my bed?"

"Do you not remember having a nightmare last night?" he replied. Upon seeing her shake her head, he continued. "Well, I heard you yelling and thrashing about through the wall last night, and came in to wake you up from your nightmare. Once you were awake and I went to go back to my own bed, you asked me to stay with you. You said you didn't want to be alone after the dream you had."

She blushed, and ducked her head a bit. "Well, thank you, then, George, for sacrificing your sleep to help me feel safer."

"It was no problem, Hermione. And it didn't sacrifice my sleep at all; quite the opposite, actually. I slept better last night than I have in a really long time." Upon finishing that statement and realizing what he had just said, he blushed all the way to the tips of his ears. Hermione couldn't help but smile warmly at his confession, and the adorable face he made when he was embarrassed.

Suddenly, George sat bolt upright in the bed and sniffed the air. "Bacon. I smell bacon!" He jumped out of the bed and bolted towards the door, heading in the direction of the delicious smell. Pausing at the entrance to his bedroom, he turned around and looked at Hermione. "Come on, Granger! Don't you want to steal some bacon from Fred with me?"

She grinned and hopped out of bed, then followed him out into the kitchen.

-oOo-

"Wow, Fred, that was a delicious breakfast, thank you! I think I'm going to go take a shower before I get started on my development for the day." Getting up and making her way over to his chair, she smiled at Fred and hugged him from above, and then headed into the bathroom between the bedrooms.

As soon as he heard the door shut and the shower turn on, he turned to his brother. Rotating his teacup in his hands, he gave him a long look before speaking. "You looked awful cosy in Hermione's bed this morning."

George's eyes widened and he spluttered a bit. "You saw that?"

Fred nodded. "Yeah. You both looked so peaceful that I couldn't bear to disturb you." George blushed. "Is there something you're not telling me, Georgie?"

"No, no, of course not. She had a nightmare, so I went in to wake her up. As I went to leave, she asked me to stay, because she didn't want to be alone after the dream she had."

"Are you sure that's all, George? It wouldn't be a crime if there was more to the story..."

George fiddled with the rim of his teacup, and started speaking without looking back up at his brother. "Well...I'll admit, I slept better last night than I have in a really long time."

A small smile grew on Fred's face. "You think it has something to do with the fact that you slept beside Granger?"

George nodded timidly.

"Well, brother," Fred started, standing up from his chair at the table and moving to clear the breakfast dishes. "I think you might just have feelings for our little bookworm." He walked back over to his brother after placing his dishes in the sink and clapped him on the shoulder. "It's not a bad thing, Georgie. She's a great bird. Don't be too hard on yourself; the heart wants what the heart wants."

George looked up at his twin and grinned. "Forge, you're turning into a little nancy boy on me. What's Angie done to you?"

Fred just shook his head and laughed lightly. "You'll understand one day, Gred, Merlin-willing. Just don't break her heart, yeah?"

George nodded slightly and swirled the tea in his cup around, watching the liquid spiral as his brother left him to go down to the shop. He continued to sit there in silence for another ten minutes or so, lost in his thoughts, until Hermione came back into the kitchen.

"Is everything alright, George?" she asked, looking at him curiously.

"Yeah, yeah, everything's fine, Hermione. Just thinking. No need to worry." Standing up, he placed his teacup in the sink and started towards the stairs. "Let's go work on those flowers for Fred, yeah? Hopefully, we can surprise him by finishing them by the end of the day."

She nodded, but didn't move to follow him. She just stood there and stared after him for a moment, curious to know what was going on inside his head. Shaking her head, she sighed, and then followed him down the stairs to the lab.

* * *

><p>Posted: 9 January 2012<br>Word Count: 2,226


	6. Chapter 6

___I **loved **writing this chapter. It was so much fun! I'm going to dedicate this chapter to **Wizards-Pupil**, in celebration of completing the final (113th!) chapter of her greatest story to date (and my all-time favorite fanfic!), Snipe. If you haven't read that story yet, DO IT. Actually, do it even if you've already read it once. It's just as good the second time. You won't be disappointed, I promise. I don't know if you're reading this, Mya, but you (and your story) are super fantastic :)___

* * *

><p>One day in late November, the twins were bundled up under blankets on the couch, Hermione nestled between them. They had just finished watching a documentary on giraffes on the telly, and were discussing the finer points of the show.<p>

Craning his neck out as far as he could, George climbed off the couch and got on all fours, and started lumbering around the sitting room. "Look at me, I'm a giraffe!" he exclaimed.

"George!" Hermione shouted, laughing. "Get back over here, you just let out all the warmth! I'm freezing!"

"No worries, Granger," Fred shot back, "I can think of a much better way for the two of us to keep warm that doesn't involve him. Or, well, it can, if you're into that sort of thing," he finished with a wink.

Hermione froze in place with a scandalized look on her face, and then burst out laughing again. Smacking him on the arm, she smiled widely. "Oh Fred, whatever will I do with you?"

"Shag me senseless?" he replied with a cheeky grin. George fell over onto his side, clutching his stomach as he laughed, while Hermione's face turned a bright red. "Just kidding, Granger. Angie would hex my bollocks off if I so much as suggested shagging someone else. Though if you're still interested, I bet George wouldn't say no..."

FWAP

Fred was hit in the face by a pillow thrown by George. "FRED!" he exclaimed. All of a sudden, he sat bolt upright and put his finger up to his mouth to silence his flatmates. "Ssh, do you hear that?" Fred looked up from tickling Hermione and locked eyes with his brother. "Is it just me, or does it sound like the wards have been breached?"

"I think you're right," Fred replied, with a serious expression washing over his features. "Hermione. Get in your safe room, and don't make a sound. George, you sweep through the flat and make sure there are no signs of a third person living here. I'll go down to the shop to check for intruders."

"Please be safe, Fred," Hermione said with a worried look on her face. She grabbed up her book from the table and quickly made her way into the safe room, George right behind her. Once he had the entrance to the safe room concealed, he went back into the living room.

"Careful, Forge. First sign of trouble, send up a patronus," he told his brother, a fierce look of determination set on his face. Fred nodded, and then made his way down the stairs to the shop.

-oOo-

As he made his way to the front of the shop, Fred could feel the hairs on the back of his neck standing up. There was clearly someone trying to get in.

He tightened his grip on his wand and walked over to the door. Peering through the blinds, he saw a few burly men in cloaks standing on the other side of the entrance. He recognized one of them as Goyle, Sr., and another as Yaxley, but couldn't identify the third. "Brilliant," he groaned quietly to himself. "This won't be pretty." He took down some of the wards and unlocked the door. Opening it, he greeted the men in as civil a manner as he could. "Evening, gentlemen. The shop's closed. Was there something you needed?"

"Actually, there is. Someone gave us a tip that you and your clone might be able to lead us to Potter's mudblood," Yaxley declared, stepping forward.

"Oh, you mean his mum?" he replied with a straight face, proud of himself for thinking so quickly on his feet. "She's been dead for years; thought you lot would've known that."

Yaxley growled, and the other two thugs stepped up closer behind him. "Don't be smart with us, Weasley. You know we meant Granger."

"Oh, you mean Hermione Granger? Yeah, we don't really know her that well, she's actually friends with our younger brother, Ron."

"Well, she's a wanted fugitive, and we need to bring her in for the Muggleborn Registration. Since you say you don't know where she is, I'm sure you won't mind us checking the place for clues. That is, unless you have something to hide."

"No sir, we've got nothing to hide. Just give me one moment to get my brother." Fred closed the door and sent off a patronus up the stairs. A moment later, George came down into the shop and joined his brother at the front. Opening the door back up, Fred waved the three men inside.

"Evening, gents. Welcome to Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes," George said with a small bow.

Goyle grunted, and they continued searching the shop for any signs of the witch. Once they finished, Yaxley approached the twins. "We need to check the flat, too."

George beckoned them toward the stairs. "No problem, gentlemen. Let me escort you upstairs to our living quarters." He led the men up the stairs, and they immediately started looking around.

The third man walked over to the kitchen and eyed the vase sitting on the table. "Why are there flowers?"

"They're for my girlfriend," Fred replied. "I was supposed to go to her flat for dinner tonight, but she wasn't feeling well, so I haven't gotten to give them to her yet."

Yaxley walked into the sitting room and immediately spotted the television. "What is that thing?"

"It's a muggle television, sir. It shows moving pictures with sound," George replied.

Yaxley looked at him suspiciously. "Why would two pureblooded wizards have a muggle object like this?"

George just smiled. "Surely, working for the Ministry, you must know our father works in the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts department. He's obsessed with all things muggle, and I will admit, a bit of his fascination has rubbed off on us. Watching the telly is a nice way to unwind after a long day in the shop."

Yaxley just eyed him warily, and went to search Fred's bedroom. A few minutes later, the three men convened in the entryway to the apartment. "Well, you got lucky this time, Weasleys. If we ever find out that you know where the mudblood is, though, you'll regret having lied to us."

"We'll keep that in mind if we ever hear from her," Fred replied with a casual air. "Here, let me show you out." He led the three men down to the shop and back out into Diagon Alley, and then made his way back up into the flat after locking up and resetting the wards.

Meanwhile, George was crouched down in his closet, whispering through a small gap in the false wall to Hermione. "The coast is clear, Granger, though I think you should probably stay in there for the rest of the night, just in case they come back. I'll come let you out in the morning. Sleep well."

"Goodnight, George."

He concealed the entrance to her safe room and walked out into the hallway to meet his brother. "They leave with no trouble, Fred?"

"Yeah. Close call, though...I noticed on the way out that we still had one of her scarves hanging by the door. Good thing she's not girly enough for them to realize it wasn't one of ours," he replied.

-oOo-

"Hermione, good news," Fred announced as he walked into the flat on Christmas Eve. Her head popped up from where she was bent over the oven, removing biscuits, and glanced at him curiously. "Fleur talked to her 'seester' – you remember Gabrielle, right? - and she said she's chosen not to come visit us this year, but that she wouldn't mind if someone posed as her using Polyjuice. You get to spend Christmas at the Burrow with us!"

Hermione beamed at him and, after removing her oven mitts, ran over to hug him. Throwing her arms around his waist, she tried to suppress a squeal. "Oh Fred, that's so exciting! I get to leave the house! I get to see your family! I GET TO SEE GINNY!"

Fred chuckled. "That you do. She's actually over the moon that you'll be there tomorrow, she couldn't stop talking about it. I reckon she's more excited than Mum."

Hermione blushed and pulled away from him. "I didn't realize I meant that much to them..."

Fred just looked at her, dumbfounded. "Of course you mean a lot to them, Hermione! Mum considers you her other daughter, and Ginny sees you as the sister she never had! You've been an unofficial member of our family for years."

"Really?" she asked. When he nodded, her face lit up brighter than their Christmas tree. "That's wonderful. I love your family like they were my very own, it's nice to know the feeling is reciprocated." She made her way back into the kitchen and scooped up two of her freshly-baked candy cane biscuits, and carried them back over to Fred. "Now, these were supposed to be saved for you two to bring to the Burrow tomorrow, but I think we could spare two to celebrate the good news. As it is, I might have to bake another batch to send to Gabrielle. I wonder what kind of biscuits she likes..."

"What kind of biscuits who likes?" George asked, striding into the flat.

"Gabrielle," Fred started.

"I get to spend Christmas at the Burrow with you guys thanks to her!" Hermione exclaimed, interrupting Fred.

George let out a loud whoop, and rushed over to Hermione. Picking her up in a bear hug, he spun her around with a large grin on his face. Setting her back down, he started towards the kitchen. "I say we make her an assortment, and we can send it tomorrow with Pig. I'll help you; what'll we start with?"

"Let's start with butter drop." Making her way into the kitchen, she paused and smiled warmly at her identical flatmates. "You two are the greatest, you know? I don't know how I ever smiled before I started spending time with you."

-oOo-

It was Christmas day, and all the excitement at the Burrow was winding down. The presents had been opened, dinner devoured, pudding decimated, and everyone was paired up in the sitting room, enjoying each others company and the occasional candy cane. Arthur and Molly were relaxing together on the love seat, Fred and Angelina on the rug by the fire, Fleur perched on Bill's lap on the overstuffed armchair, Ginny and George playing exploding snap near the Christmas tree, and Charlie dozing on the couch. Hermione – disguised as Gabrielle – stood in the doorway, leaning against the wall and just observing her adopted family with a gleam of sadness in her eyes. It was obvious she was thinking about the two missing faces in the room, and wondering where they were and if they were alright.

All of a sudden, George's cards exploded, causing him to rock backwards in laughter and look up. In doing so, he happened to noticed Hermione off in her own little world, and recognized the sadness in her eyes. Looking over at Fred, he locked eyes with his brother and had a silent conversation. He turned to Ginny and whispered, "be right back." She nodded, and he stood up.

Taking slow, quiet steps towards his bushy-haired flatmate, he started to sing softly. "If life seems jolly rotten, there's something you've forgotten."

Fred stood up off the couch and followed his brother's lead, singing a little bit louder. "And that's to laugh and smile and dance and sing."

George picked back up where his twin left off. "When you're feeling in the dumps, don't be silly chumps!" he sang, rapidly approaching Hermione.

Fred finished with the last two lines of the verse. "Just purse your lips and whistle, that's the thing." He trailed off as he and George reached their target, and the two began to sing the chorus in unison, complete with whistling.

"AAAAAAAAND, always look on the bright side of life!" they sang, getting continually louder as they saw the smile start to form on her face. They each threw an arm around her shoulder and sang to her face, attempting to start a kick line. She started to laugh, and wide grins grew on their identical faces.

"There's that lovely smile," George whispered to her, and she blushed. "You feeling a bit better, Mione?"

She nodded. "I think I am; thanks, boys. I was just thinking about how much I miss Harry and Ron."

Fred pulled her into a hug, and dragged her into the kitchen. A few moments later, the two returned to the sitting room with a tray full of eggnog and passed the goblets out to the family.

"A toast!" Fred shouted. "To our two little brothers – real and adopted – and their mission being a success!"

Everyone raised their glasses to that, and called out, "hear, hear!" before taking a sip of their drinks.

-oOo-

"Grandma got run over by a reindeer!" Fred belted out, as he waltzed through their flat later that night, putting up his coat and scarf by the door.

Hermione smiled at him and laughed, heading towards George's room to put her gifts in her safe room. Once she returned, George grabbed her by the wrist and pulled her down into the couch to cuddle between himself and his brother. "Did you enjoy your Christmas, Hermione?" he asked, pushing a lock of hair behind her ear.

"I really did, thank you to both of you. I had a lovely time, especially when the two of you took it upon yourselves to cheer me up when I got to thinking about the boys."

Fred ruffled her hair, and pulled her close into his side. "Hermione, we'll always be around to cheer you up. You're too adorable for us not to," he said with a wink and a grin.

She laughed and swatted his chest, before snuggling deeper into his side. "Thanks, Fred. You're pretty adorable yourself."

"Hear that, Gred?" he asked, grinning impishly at his brother. "She thinks I'm adorable!"

"That's nice, Freddy. At least someone does," he replied.

Hermione just chuckled and smiled. "However did I live before I knew you two?"

* * *

><p>Posted: January 2012<br>Word Count: 2,445


	7. Chapter 7

"Hermione, want some breakfast?" George asked, strolling into her safe room. Upon reaching the bed, however, he realized she was still asleep. He gently shook her shoulders. "Rise and shine, Granger! We're supposed to be working on development all day today, you said you'd help us."

"Ugh," she moaned, pulling her pillow out from under her head and positioning it over her face. "Go away."

"None of that, now, Granger," he replied. His hand brushed hers as he tried to dislodge the pillow covering her head, and he withdrew it quickly in surprise. "Hermione! You're burning up! Are you feeling alright?"

"Miserable, actually," she groaned in response. "My head feels like a herd of hippogriffs stampeded over it."

George pulled out his wand and ran a diagnostic spell over her. "Just as I suspected...Wizard's Flu... Right. You're not to leave this bed, other than for the loo. I'll bring you some soup and tea in a few minutes. In the meantime, here," he declared, summoning a washcloth and using Aguamenti to soak it in cool water, then placing it on her forehead.

"Mmm," she hummed, "that feels wonderful. Thank you, George."

"Don't mention it, Granger," he replied. "Someone's got to take care of you, right?"

She managed a weak smile. "I'm glad it's you."

-oOo-

A week later, and Hermione was still sick. "Granger, I don't like that you're still this sick. Maybe we should get someone more well-versed in healing to take a look at you."

"What do you recommend? It's not like I can just waltz into St. Mungo's..." she responded.

"I know, I know, I was thinking maybe someone in the Order...someone like...oh! I've got it! Tonks' mum used to be a healer, we could get her to come over here. Don't you go anywhere, I'm going to go floo mum to ask her about it," George demanded, getting up from Hermione's bedside to go use the fireplace.

Hermione just laughed. "It's not like I have anywhere to go anyway."

A few minutes later, George returned to the safe room with Andromeda Tonks in tow. "Hello, Miss Granger. I hear you've fallen ill," she said in greeting.

"It's Hermione, and yes, ma'am, I've been feeling under the weather for at least a week now. Though I expect I'm in a lot better shape than I could have been, thanks to George's wonderful attentiveness."

George blushed. "Oh, it was nothing you wouldn't have done for me, Granger."

"No, I have to agree with Hermione," Andromeda stated, waving her wand over Hermione in complicated patterns. "For this particular strain of Wizard's Flu she seems to have contracted, she appears to be much more comfortable and lively than would be normal. You've apparently done an excellent job taking care of her." She smiled warmly at George and his face lit up, obviously not expecting the praise.

"Well thank you, Mrs. Tonks. Though I've really only done what I remember my mum doing for us when we got sick growing up."

"Call me Andromeda, please. And a fine example you had set for you, Mr. Weasley. Molly is an outstanding caregiver and nurturer. You're lucky to have been raised by such a remarkable woman."

Hermione reached for George's hand and gave it a squeeze, trying to convey in her smile how much she appreciated his care.

Actually, she'd been doing a lot of thinking about that over the past week that she'd been on bed rest. She never expected George to be as caring and attentive as he had been for the extent of her illness so far, and she thought it was absolutely wonderful. She knew he had a kind, caring spirit underneath the prankster front he kept up, but never anticipated it being so blatantly directed towards herself. If she was honest with herself, she'd probably have to admit that it endeared him to her a lot more than she'd have ever expected, and in the process, helped her to realize she had started to develop feelings for him.

Yes. She, Hermione Granger, had feelings for George Weasley. And she'd never felt more conflicted in her life.

-oOo-

"Hermione!" Fred shouted, speeding up his entrance to the sitting room. "You're off bed rest! Does this mean you're feeling better?"

"Oh yes, much," she replied, smiling. "Thanks to Mrs. Tonks' help, and George's excellent care, I'm feeling much more like myself again." She blushed a little at this admission, and Fred eyed her curiously.

"Granger...what was that blush about? Is there something you'd like to tell me? Something about my brother, perhaps?"

She snapped her head up at that question. "Fred?"

"Oh, come on Hermione, you can talk to me," he drawled, dropping down on to the couch and patting the seat beside him. "George is at Lee's tonight, so it's just the two of us. You can trust me."

She hesitantly padded over to the couch and sat beside him. "You don't keep any secrets from George," she stated.

"Not true. I don't keep any of my _own_ secrets from George...but I'm good at keeping secrets that others trust me with. I solemnly swear that anything revealed in this conversation will never leave my lips without your express permission."

She looked at him warily, but then sighed and leaned into his side. "Alright, alright. What do you want to know?"

"Do you fancy my brother?" he asked.

"Wow, you don't waste any time, do you?"

"Well? You agreed to confide in me, you can't get out of answering this one."

Hermione took a deep breath, and then spoke. "I...I think I do, Fred. He was just so wonderful and caring while I was sick, I've never seen that side of him before. It's like it opened up a whole new world in my mind; one where I see him in a totally different light." She blushed, and burrowed deeper into his side.

"Brilliant!" Fred exclaimed. "You would be so good for him, Granger! I would love to see you two together."

"Fred, when did you become such a sweetheart?"

"It's just my natural Weasley charm, love," he replied with a cheeky grin. She swatted his chest, and then leaned back against him, smiling.

"Oh you. I honestly don't know how we didn't become friends sooner; I can't imagine my life without you in it anymore," she said, turning to the side and wrapping her arms around him.

"I love you too, Granger," Fred replied with a light laugh, hugging her back. "Now, what do you say we watch a movie? I'll even make us popcorn and root beer floats!"

-oOo-

Hermione woke up and walked out into the hallway, and stopped in surprise. Rubbing her eyes, she blinked a few times to make sure she wasn't seeing things. The entire flat was covered from floor to ceiling in hearts and cherubs. 'Oh! Valentine's day!' she thought. 'Guess the boys were a little over-excited...'

She went into the kitchen to start making breakfast, but paused when she heard a tapping noise. Turning to look at the window, she spotted a post owl. She opened the window and let it in, took the letter from its leg, and gave it an owl treat before it flew back out into Diagon Alley. She opened the letter, and sank into a chair with a heavy sigh of relief as she recognized Harry's scrawling handwriting.

_Herm-own-ninny,_

_Happy Valentine's Day! We were hoping to be home by now, so we could celebrate the holiday with you, but unfortunately, we're still searching. 3/6, by the way, and we think we know the rest. I won't elaborate anymore, in case this owl gets intercepted._

_Speaking of owls, I bet you're wondering how we managed to pull this off without being seen. Well, you'll be proud to know that Roonil had the genius idea to summon Snuffles' elf, who we then had take this to the post office for us. We just gave him a few sickles to pay for using the owl, and he took care of the rest. Pretty brilliant, eh?_

_By the way, Roonil says hi. We're somehow managing to survive out here, our diet mostly consisting of berries and the like, but we can't wait to be able to come home and have a proper meal (and see you all again, of course!)_

_Anyway, I think that's about all we can actually put in a letter, for safety's sake. We miss you tons, and hope that you're doing well. Please send our love to the rest of the family, and tell them that we hope to see them soon. And especially thank the ones that are helping you fly under the radar for us._

_Until we meet again,_

_TBWL_

She couldn't contain the smile on her face, but still managed to break down crying at the same time. Placing the letter back down on the table, she rested her face in her hands and let out all her pent up worries through her tears.

"Hermione?" Fred's voice floated into the kitchen as he climbed the stairs to the flat. "Are you alright? I heard crying." He walked through the door and immediately spotted Hermione, and ran over to envelop her in his arms. "Ssh, ssh. Hey now, love, what's wrong?"

She couldn't say anything, so she just lifted her head to look him in the eyes, and then handed him the letter. "Merlin..." he breathed out, flopping down into a chair to read the parchment. "They're alright! Oh, what a relief." He got up and walked briskly to the stairs, opened the door, and called down to his brother. "George! George, leave the store to Verity and come upstairs for a minute!"

George came flying up the stairs, breathing heavily. "What is it, Fred? Did something happen? Is everyone alright?" Spotting Hermione at the table, he noticed her red, puffy eyes and tear-stained cheeks. Quickly making his way over to her, he threw his arms around her as his brother had done only a few minutes prior. "Hermione! What's wrong?"

Fred handed him the letter, and after reading it, George exhaled loudly as if he'd just been punched in the gut. "Bit of a relief, eh, Georgie?" George just nodded and reached over to stroke Hermione's hair softly after dropping the letter on the table.

"I think we should close the store for the day, Fred, and go out to celebrate. We can afford one day off, right?" George asked, looking to his brother.

"I think that's a good idea, George," he replied. "I'll go tell Verity, and ask her for a hair for polyjuice in case we need to get Granger out of the house." He got up from the table and headed down the stairs to talk to his employee and shoo the customers out after they'd made their final purchases.

-oOo-

George, Fred, and a polyjuiced Hermione – disguised as the WWW shop girl, Verity – left the flat and headed towards the Leaky Cauldron. Walking in, they noticed that the late morning crowd had thinned out quite a bit from months past, a sure sign that the threat of war was looming ever closer.

"Morning, Tom," Fred called, making his way over to the bar. "How's business?"

"Eh, surviving. You've seen what the Alley looks like lately, there's not many people around in the first place...not that any of them want to linger long enough to have a drink, anyway," the bartender replied.

"Yeah, we know all about that," George said with a sigh. "Seems that as much as people need a good laugh nowadays, nobody is willing to leave the house to come get something from us for it. Hopefully, this will all pass over soon. Merlin knows Diagon Alley could use some traffic."

"Hrmm," Tom grunted. "So, what'll it be today? Firewhiskey, as usual?"

"Nah, just a butterbeer each, please. And...I think we'll all go for some fish and chips, too," Fred answered, shaking his head. "It's a little early for firewhiskey...plus, we may decide to open the shop back up later today; can't do that if we're pissed!"

"Alright, here's your butterbeer. I'll bring the fish and chips around when they're ready," Tom said, handing them each a mug. "Seat yourself."

The trio made their way over to a booth in the back, to avoid unwanted attention. "To our brothers," George announced as they settled onto the benches, raising his glass to his companions.

"Hear, hear," they replied, clinking their own glasses with his. They all three took a long sip of the warm butterbeer, and sighed as they relaxed into their seats.

"It's so nice to be out in public, for once. I feel so trapped, always being in the shop," Hermione remarked, with a thoughtful smile on her face.

"Yeah, it's nice to be able to see you outside of number 93 for a change. Though we can't make a habit of this, for safety's sake," Fred replied with a frown.

The three friends spent the next few hours at the pub, enjoying each others company and relishing the warmth the butterbeer brought to them in the unusually cold winter. Eventually, they returned to the flat, feeling a lot lighter and smiling more easily than they had when the day first started.

They never did open the shop back up that day.

* * *

><p>Posted: January 2012<br>Word Count: 2,301


	8. Chapter 8

_Thank you to **SJMuggle**, for being review #50 :)_

* * *

><p>Hermione sat in the sitting room, a bit on edge, as she always was the nights the twins left to do Potterwatch. She constantly worried that they'd be caught, or that something bad would happen to them on their way back.<p>

The radio was on, and though she had turned it to the right frequency and said the correct password, there was no sound coming from it. It was twenty minutes past when the show was supposed to start, and she was beginning to get really worried.

All of a sudden, there was a loud bang as the door to the flat was thrown open and slammed against the wall. Standing in the doorway was a heavily breathing George, standing with his feet apart, wand in hand hanging down by his side, and his other hand raised in the air from where he had just pushed the door. His robes were torn, and he was bleeding significantly from several different wounds.

"GEORGE!" she cried, jumping up from the couch and running over to him. She grabbed him in a firm embrace, holding him longer than she usually would, and then did something neither of them expected. She pulled back, grabbed his cheeks with both hands, and kissed him forcefully on the mouth. Before he could even react, she had released his lips and hugged him again, fiercely, before bursting into tears. "George Fabian Weasley, don't you ever scare me like that again!" she demanded, banging her fists angrily – but gently – on his chest. "What happened out there?"

George was still a bit stunned by the fact that his flatmate – the very same flatmate he'd been harboring secret feelings for – had kissed him, but managed to shake off the daze and respond. "It was an ambush. Somehow, they knew where we'd be broadcasting from tonight, and there were about ten Death Eaters waiting for us on location. Fred and I arrived at the same time as Kingsley, only to find Lee and Remus already locked in battle. We all managed to get away safely, and took down a few Death Eaters in the process. Only Lee sustained any significant injury – though he'll be fine."

"Oh, I'm so glad you're alright! Wait, where's Fred? I thought you said he got away!"

"He went to Angie's before coming home, to make sure she knew he was alright since she was expecting him to be on the air tonight," he replied. "He'll be home in a bit, I think. Now, let's go get me cleaned up, shall we? Then we can talk about what you meant by that kiss," he said with a wink.

Hermione blushed a deep scarlet and looked down for a moment, before raising her eyes to meet George's again. "Alright, let's head into the bathroom and see what I can do to heal those wounds."

She led him into the bathroom and sat him down on the counter before opening the potion cabinet and grabbing some dittany. She made her way over to him and stood between his legs, then began tending to his wounds.

An uncomfortable silence passed over the next few minutes, before George took it upon himself to initiate the potentially awkward conversation. "So...Hermione..." he started, "why'd you kiss me?"

She sighed without looking up from the wound she was healing. "Why do you think I did?"

He shook his head. "I'm really not sure. I definitely wasn't expecting it."

She remained silent for a few minutes before finding the courage to speak her mind; though not enough to look him in the eyes. "To be honest, I wasn't sure I would ever see you again. I was expecting to hear your voices on the radio, and when I didn't, my mind started reeling with all the possibilities of things that could have happened to you. I didn't know whether you'd been attacked, captured, killed, imperiused..."

"But that doesn't answer my question. Sure, in that situation, anyone would hug, cry, and possibly kiss someone on the cheek or forehead. But it's not everyday that a friend greets someone with a kiss like that."

Hermione paused in her healing. Chancing a quick glance at George's face, she turned her eyes back down to where her hands sat on his knees and answered him so quietly that he almost didn't hear her. "I was just so relieved that nothing had happened to you before I could tell you how I felt..."

George froze. "H-how you felt? About what?"

About you," she whispered meekly.

He placed two fingers under her chin and tilted her head up to look at him as he responded. "How _do_ you feel about me, Hermione?" His heart was pounding inside his chest, and his stomach felt like a cage full of Cornish Pixies.

She took the chance to finally meet his eyes and studied them for a moment, trying to ascertain how he felt about the situation. Disappearing as quickly as it appeared, a hint of hope and longing flashed in his eyes. She took a deep breath, trying to calm her nerves, then placed a hand gently on his cheek. He closed his eyes and seemed to almost nuzzle his face further into her palm. And then she kissed him.

George was stunned. His stomach was doing somersaults, his head was whirling, and his heart was leaping for joy. He didn't know his body was even capable of that many emotions at once. Snapping out of his daze, he slipped his hand onto the back of her neck and slightly into her hair, and began to respond to the kiss.

Hermione, for her part, was soaring. She couldn't believe George was kissing her back! Never, in a million years, would she have expected handsome, funny, kind, caring, affectionate George Weasley to want to kiss her. All she wanted to do was clear her mind and focus solely on the feeling of his lips on hers, but her mind was racing a mile a minute. What if he just wanted a good snog? Or he just needed a physical release after his brush with death? What if he suddenly realized who he was snogging, and pulled away with a look of disgust? The need to know was overpowering her ability to enjoy the moment, so she reluctantly pulled away and dropped her hand from his cheek to his chest.

"George, I..." she started, not sure how to say what she needed to. "Not that I don't enjoy kissing you – because I very much do – but I need to know that you're not just doing this because the opportunity presented itself. How do you actually feel about me?"

"Granger..._Hermione_...to be honest, I'm crazy about you. Have been for awhile. I just never said anything because I was afraid of what you would say, and whether it would affect our living situation. I mean, honestly – what could a beautiful, brilliant, big-hearted woman like you possibly want with a joker like me? I'm a Hogwarts dropout who can't get anyone to take him seriously 90% of the time. It was like wishing for the impossible."

"Oh George," she sighed, placing her palm on his cheek once again and rubbing her thumb along his skin. "Do you really think of yourself like that? Because when I look at you, I see a handsome man with a brilliant mind, that loves and cares for the ones close to him, and will do whatever it takes to protect them. I see someone who is loyal, dependable, intelligent, and will go out of his way to make sure a perfect stranger has a smile on their face. You're one of the best people I know; how could I _not_ have fallen for you?"

George looked into her eyes and saw the sincerity in their depths. "Thank Merlin," he sighed, and kissed her once again with more determination and confidence.

"Georgie, you home?" Fred called out, looking through the flat for his brother. "George? Oh! I'll just leave you to it, then," he said with a chuckle, upon discovering his twin in a fierce lip-lock with their flatmate. They didn't even acknowledge him as he grinned and walked away towards his bedroom, mumbling to himself, "it's about time."

-oOo-

"HERMIONE!" Fred shouted, barging into the flat. "HERMIONE! Where are you?"

"Fred?" she cried, dashing out of the bathroom, wrapped in only a towel after having jumped out of the shower in alarm.

"Hermione! Thank Merlin. Throw all your things in your trunk, quickly, and shrink it. Don't bother getting dressed – no time – just put on a dressing gown over your towel. Hurry!"

She bolted into George's room, a look of terror on her face, and hastily grabbed everything in sight once she reached the safe room, stuffing it all in her trunk. Realizing she'd already packed her dressing gown, she grabbed George's, and threw it over herself before shrinking her trunk and placing it in the pocket. Just as she was tying the robe closed, Fred entered the room.

"Got everything?" Seeing her nod, he grabbed her arm. "Right. I'm about to apparate you, don't be alarmed. We're going to a safe house." He twisted into the air, and when they opened their eyes, they were in the living room at Great-Aunt Muriel's house.

"Fred! Hermione!" Molly cried, rushing forward to hug them. Grabbing the girl up in her arms, she sniffled to hold back her tears. "I'm so glad you're alright." Moving to hug Fred, he kissed her cheek and stepped away.

"Sorry, Mum, can't stick around. Gotta get back to George to secure the shop, we'll be back as soon as we can. Get Granger settled in for me, alright?"

She reached forward to grab his hand, and gave it a quick squeeze. "Do be safe, Freddy. And make sure your brother makes it back with you."

"Will do, Mum. We'll be back before you know it." He turned to Hermione and kissed her on the cheek, then patted her shoulder. "We'll be fine, Mione. Just stick with Mum." And with that, he apparated back to the shop to finish resetting the wards with his brother.

Once he was gone, Molly turned to Hermione to get a proper look at her. "Oh! Hermione! Why aren't you dressed?"

Hermione blushed brightly, and moved to tighten the ties on the dressing gown. "Fred interrupted my shower to tell me we were leaving. I barely had enough time to throw everything into my trunk, so I had to just throw on a dressing gown. I didn't even have time to get to my own – it was already packed – so I had to just grab George's. I apologize for my state of undress."

"Oh, it's no worry, dear," Molly replied. "I'm just glad he got you out of there without being seen."

"Why did I need to leave in the first place? Did something happen?" Hermione asked, finally having the time to collect her thoughts and become nervous.

"Oh dear, he didn't even tell you why you were rushing? Diagon Alley is under attack; Bill managed to make it out of Gringotts and collect us from the Burrow before heading home to Fleur. Apparently, the Death Eaters managed to get a hold of a list of the members of the Order, and decided to just get as many as possible in one fell swoop. We've decided that the Burrow is unsafe at the moment, so we've moved to Aunt Muriel's until it's safe to go back home again. It's under the Fidelius."

"Oh," Hermione whispered, paling. "So, then...the twins are in the middle of the fight? And what of Ginny? She's at Hogwarts, they'll know how to get her! She may not be a member of the Order, but her entire family are members; they'll want to get her to get to you!"

Molly nodded solemnly. "The boys will be fine; Merlin knows they've gotten into worse trouble than this in the past. And Ginny's supposed to come home this weekend for Easter anyway, so Arthur will meet her at King's Cross and she won't return to Hogwarts after the holiday. We'll all be fine. Now, why don't we go get you settled and dressed, dear. You can't be comfortable standing around with everyone in your dressing gown." Hermione smiled sheepishly and nodded her assent, following Molly up the stairs to an unused bedroom. "You'll be bunking with Ginny once she gets here, but until then, you've got the room to yourself. Arthur and I are just down the hall if you need us, and the twins will be in the room across from you. Everyone else is scattered along this hallway, except Muriel, who's behind the kitchen. You'll be alright to get yourself settled in, then?"

"Yes, Molly, thank you, I should be just fine," Hermione replied. "I'll be back downstairs in a moment; I won't be able to sit up here by myself while I worry about the boys being stuck in Diagon Alley."

Molly nodded, and closed the door as she left the room. Hermione sat down on one of the beds with a sigh, and put her head in her hands. Giving herself a moment to collect herself, she focused on her breathing. Once she felt a bit calmer, she got up and got dressed, brushed her hair into some semblance of a ponytail, and left the room. She crossed the hall to what would be the twins' room and hung George's dressing gown in the closet, and then headed downstairs to wait with the rest of the family.

* * *

><p>Posted: 11 February 2012<br>Word Count: 2,330


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